And Everything a Poison
by Moonfire Wolfe
Summary: When Leo is captured by the Foot Clan, he must fight to stay alive, while his family searches desperately for him. First story on Fanfiction, better than it sounds. DonnieXoc pairing.
1. Chapter 1

'**My name is Leonardo Hamato. I am 16 years old. My home is New York City. I am a ninja. I killed the Shredder. He came back. He captured me. I am a prisoner. I am thought dead by my family. I feel as if I am dead. Most likely I am dead. It would be best if I was dead...**'

Leo looked up from the words he'd written, in his own blood, on the stone floor of his cell. He nodded, as if he'd needed only to see the facts laid bare before him to accept them. The action reminded him of his little sister, Vanessa, and of her binder full of similar, but happier lists.

_ 'My name is Vanessa Wolfe. I had no family. I now have four brothers. I have a father...'_

He sighed at the much brighter, vibrant tone of the memory. The remembrance of home, of family. Him, Vanessa, Don, Mikey, and a reluctant Raph sneaking out to watch a production of Macbeth at the Avalon Grande Theater. Training in the Dojo. Patrolling the city, and mopping up crime together. Fighting with Raph over something trivial, like him sneaking out at night.

God, what he would have given to be home. To apologize to Raph for being a jerk, something he'd never considered himself before. He wanted to tell Vanessa how much she meant to him, that she was more than just a valuable fighter to have on his team. To tell Don not to spend so much time in his lab, for his own sake. To do typical big brother stuff again.

Instead, he was here. At the mercy of the most vile, shameless villain his family had ever faced. A villain who, to make things impossibly worse, had a personal vendetta against him. The Shredder had given his scientists permission to do what they wanted to him, and had stood there during every session of torture. They'd been very indifferent about everything they'd done. Very scientific. They'd done so many things, he could only remember the last round of experiments they'd preformed. They'd tested how long he could survive underwater, without any source of air. His Chi Gong training had made it possible to last for hours, but even he couldn't last forever. Eventually, he'd breathed in a lungful of water, and they'd watched him drown as he writhed in panicked agony. They'd resuscitated him just so that the Shredder could watch him drown again. And again.

That had been one day.

He'd been captive for what he judged to be at least two weeks, though he couldn't be sure of the passage of time. Descriptions of Hell he'd read about, out of mild curiosity, made it seem like a welcome place at the moment. To simply burn would have been peaceful, like floating in a pool of water. He burned inside and out, body and soul, mind and heart. He had no safe place, not even able to escape into the calming depths of meditation.

'I must be going insane.' He often thought, as he wrote these strange messages in blood, all around his cell. He had no real, clear reason for doing it, but he did so all the same. Maybe he wanted Shredder to know he was going crazy. Maybe **_he_** wanted to know he was going crazy. He laughed, a low, haunted sound that was alien to his ears. Was he drugged, or was this insanity? Was this death, or was he still alive, trapped in his nightmares?

Leonardo did not know.

He looked up at the sound of the door being unlocked. It opened to reveal the Shredder, as well as the head scientist, who Leo had secretly nicknamed 'Mad Eye', because of his strange robotic eye, not to mention the ever present hip flask he constantly drank from while watching the helpless mutant thrash in agony. He stared at them blankly. 'Mad Eye' did a double take when he saw the new edition to Leo's mural of the macabre. Leo had noticed that the man fancied himself a psychologist, which was another small amusement to him; a shrink who created his own patients. So twisted, he found it funny. The man crouched down, so that he was on a level with him.

"What prompted you to write this?" He asked, in his authoritative voice, the accent still implacable, sounding genuinely curious. Leo simply shrugged in answer, never making eye contact with the man. The man glared at him, "I asked you a question, Freak. You vill answer." Leo looked up, letting his empty gaze rest on the scientist.

"Maybe I'm insane. You're the shrink. You tell me." His retort was met by a blow to the head. He simply winced, looking away.

"Have your ninja bring this creature to my lab, if it so pleases you, Master Shredder. I have a final experiment I vould like to conduct before you destroy him." Leo heard the man say, and shuddered. What could possibly happen to him now? And where, for that matter, was his family? Why had they not found him? Why wasn't he home?

He felt the rough hands of the Foot Ninja grab his arms, hauling his trembling, emaciated body off the floor. He didn't bother struggling beyond the instinctual growl that rumbled in his throat, and a weak attempt to pull himself free. He was rewarded with a hard attack to his chest, which left him gasping for breath as they dragged him down the non descript grey hallways.

'Let me die. Let me die. Please, let me die.' He chanted in his head, a mantra to keep him from screaming in frustration, and fear. They turned a corner, and he was hauled into what he quickly realised was a lab. Not the same one as he'd been in for the other experiments up to that point. There was a sort of table in the middle of the room, complete with leather straps to hold him down. Somehow, despite the lack of other tools to prove it, he knew what they were going to do to him. He completely lost it, screaming and thrashing, fear giving him a last reserve of strength he hadn't known he could call upon. Still, it wasn't enough to pull himself free, and the ninja wrestled him onto the table, cinching the straps around his legs, at his knees, ankles, and hips, as well as at his wrists. The strap across his shoulders pinned him very effectively, along with the smaller strap that was pulled across his mouth, gagging him.

He was trapped.

'My name is Leonardo Hamato. I am 16. I am about to be dissected alive. It is likely that I will die. I hope that I will die. Why can't I die?' He watched 'Mad Eye' and his team of Foot scientists enter the room, the equipment that one underling pushed on a cart confirming his horror; a surgical saw, scalpels, small specimen containers. Leonardo was, by no means, an idiot. He watched shows based around criminals and the apprehension thereof all the time. These objects belonged in an autopsy lab. He felt his breathing quickening, his heart racing. ' Oh, God,' He thought, his eyes widening at the sight of what looked almost like Don's heavy duty bolt cutters at home,

'Oh, my God. No. No! Don't let them actually be doing this. They _can't_!' He heard a low, panicked whine escaping him, and tried to shake his head. It was impossible. 'Mad Eye' smirked at him, a malicious, insane grin spreading across his face. He whimpered, feeling pathetic, helpless, and absolutely mortified. He could see a woman, the red-head who helped Mad Eye, setting up an IV drip, probably to sedate him or worse. She gripped his left arm, inserting a needle that would be a socket for the intrusion of unknown drugs into his body. He writhed; she had deliberately done it to cause pain. He knew that it could be painless; his genius brother had learned fast that none of his patients would accept his attentions if they hurt.

He let out a low moan of fear as she attached the line, literally feeling the coldness of the drug as it spread through his system. He could feel his heart slowing, his lungs drawing less air.

'Are they _killing_ me first?' He thought, his eyes wide as he watched the scientists moved around his prone form, preparing. That, he knew, would be mercy. He tried to flex his fingers, horror filling his slowing heart as he realised they would not move. But he could still _feel_ in perfect clarity. He slowly grasped the true horror of what the drug was doing; rendering him incapable of moving, of fighting, but very capable of feeling everything they were going to do to him.

'Please, let me die fast.' He silently prayed to whatever Gods would help him, as the surgical saw, in the hand of 'Mad Eye', descended upon his plastron.

The pain was unlike anything he'd ever experienced in his short 16 years of life. He knew that it was the kind of pain a person couldn't survive. His frozen body could feel it, to every nerve ending. His paralysed throat was unable to control or articulate the screams of pain that tore their way free.

But that wasn't the worst part.

His eyes were stuck open, his head tilted just enough that he could _see_ what they were doing. He could see one of the underlings handing the sick maniac the object that reminded him of bolt cutters. He could see, feel, and hear as 'Mad Eye' snapped every rib in his ribcage, and he screamed in helplessness, the pain too much to bear. He could hear them discussing how like a human's the placement of his ribs was, even as they put their hands inside his body, examining his organs, bones, everything.

The sense of violation was so complete that he wanted to die. Flat out die.

They were touching parts of him that weren't meant to be touched, weren't meant for this hell. They were cutting into his living flesh, slicing away pieces of the organs that dictated whether he lived or died. He couldn't stop screaming; not even one moment of blessed peace did they afford him.

It went on forever. Forever and forever.

He silently thanked the Gods that had answered him when his world went black.

His whole body was one massive ache when he returned to reality. He let his limp hands dabble in the still wet blood that covered his plastron, which was somehow rejoined. His fingers traced minute swirls in the paint of his lifeblood. He raised his right hand, shaking, to the blank space on the wall beside him. He wrote on the uneven stone;

**'My name is Leonardo Hamato. I am 16 years old. I want to die. It hurts so ****bad****. PLEASE LET ME ****DIE****.'**


	2. Chapter 2

Authour's note

Hello there, all! Thought I'd post another chapter, just because it's my first day, and I have lots of this story pre-written. Just want to say thank you to my (as of my last check) lone reviewer; the site won't let me reply to your wonderful review until tomorrow, apperantly.

Anyway.

This is the first time you get to meet Vanessa, my TOP oc. Hope you like her. Also, anyone who can name every fandom that is referenced in this chapter gets an imaginary cookie.

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT, or any other fandoms that leach into my work. Really, I don't. All I got is the OC's and the plot. Enjoi!

Vanessa Wolfe raced across the rooftops of New York City, the storm throwing rain into her wild grey fur and black hair. Raphael was not two streets away, scouring the streets and alleyways on his ShellCycle. She knew that Donatello was flying above them, using the helicopter for an aerial view of the search area. She also knew Michelangelo and Master Splinter were below the streets, searching the sewer tunnels in the desperate hope that Leo had perhaps been injured, but managed to get back into the sewers before anything worse could happen to him.

"See anything, Sky-Eye?" Vanessa asked, her voice just loud enough to be heard over the storm on the headsets they were all wearing.

"Nothing. Not a damn thing." Don's voice, upset and just as soft, responded. Splinter resisted the urge to reprimand the young genius, who should have known better than to curse when he could clearly hear him. But this same fact stopped him; Donatello was fully aware that he'd done it, and was simply too tired to care. It worried him. The boy was flying a _helicopter_, after all.

"Same from the street. Where is he?!" Raph's voice was an equal mix of anger and worry, accompanied by the rev of the bike's engines as he sped through the city.

"I do not know, my son. But he is not in this section of the sewers." Splinter's voice was a heavy sigh, laced with anxiety. His eldest son had been missing for over two weeks, since he had vanished seemingly without a trace during a friendly game of ninja capture the flag between the four brothers and their little sister. The only clue they'd found was the flag, which had been in Leo's possession at the beginning of the game, abandoned on a rooftop. As Raph had stated when they'd phoned Splinter to tell him, 'Leo would NEVER drop the flag. And he'd NEVER, **EVER, **forget the rule about checking in over the phone every 2 hours. He MADE the rule.'

'My son...Leonardo...Where _are _you?' He thought in desperation, about to tell his children that they had searched for as long as they could that night when Vanessa's voice stopped him.

"Donnie, is it just me, or does that look like a Foot Ninja?" Donatello was quick to respond.

"_Uncannily_ like a Foot Ninja." A pause, then, "Raph, he's headed your way."

"Was kinda hoping that." Raphael's voice was filled with grim anger, as the bike screamed to life, clearly in pursuit. The sound of a yelp, and running, "Damn it ta shell; he's headin' fer the rooftops, Ness! Get'im, like, fetch or something!" Raph literally yelled into the headset.

"I _resent _that comment. Wolves **do not **fetch, Raph," The sound of someone getting thrown to the ground, then, "Wolves **hunt**. Something you, mister, would be wise to note before I wring your neck." The last was clearly directed toward her captive. "Meet me on the roof, guys. Methinks we're going to have a little chat with Mister Foot Fungus here."

Splinter felt the same triumph that rung in his daughter's voice.

"Alright, pal. This is how it's gonna work. I ask you a question, you answer me. Honestly. To the very best of your ability." Vanessa stood, arms crossed over her chest, in front of their hog tied captive.

"And why the hell would I tell you anything, you freak?!" The ninja snarled from his position on the ground.

"Because I'll kill you if you don't? Very slowly, I might add." Vanessa was the image of innocence, wide eyed and soft voiced. It made her seem all the more terrifying, "I'll make you hurt so bad your _grandkids_ will feel it. If you ever_ have_ grandkids." Splinter silently debated whether or not to stop her. Raph was standing beside her, silently backing her up on every threat she hissed at the captive. Don stood farther back, Mikey at his side, but it was clear that they both understood to some extent what she planned to do, and weren't going to stop her.

"Empty threat, you little wh-" She cut the man off with a hard blow to the gut.

"Look, you stupid, ignorant waste of human life. If you had finished that sentence, I would have taken it very personally." She snarled, irritated. By the way Donatello glared at the man, she was not the only one who would take an attack on her honour as a_ very _personal matter. "One more chance, then this gets very painful for you, and our brother gets a little early justice. Where the hell is the Shredder keeping him?"

The ninja looked up at her with so much vehemence and hate that Mikey shivered. Nessa just sighed.

"Trust me, pal. You do not want to play this game." Her voice was as cold as the heart of a blizzard.

"What about the _honor _your clan finds so important?" The ninja spat, clearly on edge now. Vanessa gave a small, one shouldered shrug.

"I'm playing by an even older rule than an honor code here. It's called 'Do unto others.'" She let her magic spill over into a physical shape, a dark green nimbus around her body, "Not to mention that I'm playing this by the same rulebook your clan seems to be following." She crouched, scraping up a small handful of grit off the rooftop. "Science lesson, Foot Boy. How long does it take a red hot handful of dirt to burn from your stomach to the bottom of your foot?" As she spoke, the dirt glowed ominously in her palm, slowly growing hotter and hotter, until the Foot ninja could feel the heat on his face. He shuddered, trying to draw back. "Answer; it takes about 20 years of constant pain. Do you really want that, or will you cooperate?"

"G-get that away from me, you witch!" He yelped, struggling as she inched it closer.

"Tell me what I want to know, and it never goes beyond a threat. Keep your secret, and I'll just rip it from your memories by force, while you writhe at my feet. You have 3 seconds.3,"

The foot ninja looked between her unfeeling face and the dirt in her hand.

"2,"

"ALRIGHT! Okay, I'll tell you! Just don't put that in me, please!" Vanessa smiled at him, and said,

"Fate chooses to smile on you today. Just thank the Gods we're more merciful than your master. Now, spill, or I go on with this. You only get this one chance. Though I reckon it's one more than our brother's been given at the hands of the Shredder."

"I don't know much, I mean, I'm just a foot soldier, I'm not important enough to know much. But they've got him in this abandoned prison complex, in that old part of town. They've been letting this scientist called Ter Borsht experiment on him-" Vanessa cut him off, her voice hard and trembling.

"Roland Ter Borsht? Is his name Roland Ter Borsht?!"

"I-I don't know! It's just Dr. Ter Borsht!" The ninja all but screamed in fear.

"Ness, you know the name. Who's Ter Borsht? What's he doin' to Leo?!" Raph hissed quietly to her. She turned her mortified face toward him.

"Roland Ter Borsht is one of the sickest, most twisted minds of our age. Whatever he's doing to Leo, I can tell you that it isn't good." She turned back to the Foot ninja, "You want to live?" At his nod, she continued, "I suggest you get out of town. And leave your Foot uniform and ID with me. Don't ask why; the less you know, the safer you are." The man nodded uneasily, practically ripping off his ninja garb and shoving it into her open hand. He was just a teenager, in a grubby, torn t-shirt and jeans, his greasy black hair hanging in his eyes. "Get out of here, kid. Before this goes down, or the Shredder will hunt you like a demon wolf stalking its prey." The boy backed away, nodding.

"Your... clan-mate, Leo. He's probably the bravest person I've ever seen. A-and I never wanted this; they had my little sister, forced me to join..." He whispered, his voice much softer, "She's dead, now. I- I have nothing left here...You're right...I need to get out..." Nessa gently touched his shoulder.

"Luck, long life, and good hunting, Josh Nightlock." She whispered, her tone one of blessing.

"H-how-" The boy, Josh stared at her, eyes blinking. He'd never said his name. She smiled.

"Go with the eyes of Old White and Night Black watching you." She then made the Mockingjay sign with her hand, and touched her fingers to his forehead after having kissed them. He blinked again, then nodded, turning and running, before vanishing into the night.

There was a moment of silence before Raph had to ask,

"What the shell was that all about, Ness?" She looked at him, her eyes tired, and a little bemused.

"I...I don't exactly know...that's the thing with magic...it sometimes works outside a controllable level." Her eyes blinked sporadically, and she continued, "Sometimes, the universe, essentially, uses a mage to protect those who are important to the fate of the universe. Like a contingency plan." She looked longingly after Josh, "He had power, real power, that he doesn't know about yet. Maybe we'll meet again. I almost hope so." She then shook her head as if to clear it, then held up the Foot uniform, "Heh, I hope this fits."

"What _exactly _is your insane plan this time?" Don sighed, already used to Vanessa's odd approaches in problem solving. She grinned broadly.

"Know thine enemy. Keep your friends close,"

"And your enemies closer."Splinter finished thoughtfully, seeing Vanessa's gambit.

"You're gonna infiltrate the Foot?!" Mikey gasped, a maelstrom of emotions vying for control over his face. She nodded, a wicked smile on her face.

"Best way to kill a hydra; slice it's heart out from within." She held up the mask to her face, "In the spirit of stating obvious clichés, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

A.N~ Don't worry, it get's better from here on in. I can't write Splinter. Gah.

Please REVIEW- Feed the hungery author!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! Moonfire here.

So sorry about the wait; my stupid little netbook has been fritzy lately. Here's chapter 3; back to Leo!

Leo felt his eyes slowly opening, the pain in his chest and abdomen still too great to think around. He could feel that his body wasn't on the ground, but in a position almost like standing, only he wasn't holding himself up. He looked down, feeling sick, and realised that he was tied to some kind of post. He moaned, trying to pull free, only to find his ankles were chained to the post as well, and his wrists were bound to a crossbar that was level with his shoulders.

'What fresh hell is this?' He thought, his eyes tiredly scanning the room. What was going to happen now? He wanted to cry, but he would not show them fear. They _were_ watching, and he knew it. They had taken from him, beaten him, ridiculed him, but he wasn't dead. Of _course _they were watching. That fact alone made him want to scream in frustration. He clenched his teeth at the combination of physical and mental pain. He allowed himself an upward glance as a door opposite him opened with the screech of rusted metal.

Foot Ninja. Purple Dragons. At least 20 of them. He could smell the alcohol that screamed drunkenness as they walked towards him. He was again bound, helpless, but this time, he knew, it was going to be much worse. The pain from his last encounter with the scientists became wildfire as one of the gangsters slammed a baseball bat into his plastron. He cried out, a choked yell of sickening pain. The Dragon laughed stupidly, twirling his bat.

"Y'see? Wad I tell ya? He's pathetic!" The Dragon slurred, smashing the bat into Leo's knees. The teenager screamed, trying against all hope to break free, "Y' take away the swords, an' he's just a useless freak!" The whole lot of them jeered as Leo gasped for breath, trying to brace himself for the blows he knew were coming.

"Stupid freak!" One young girl Dragon sneered. He looked at her, and was reminded of Angel. Funny Angel, with her purple hair, and her treasure hunting brother, Ryan.

This girl had turquoise hair, short and spiked, and even more piercings than Angel. Not to mention the tattoo that trailed from neck to wrist. Leo managed to look up at her.

"You're...a little...young...for this...Aren't you...?" He rasped out, sending her a pitying look.

"Shut up, you dumb animal!" She shouted, and punched him in the face. She was wearing spiked rings that gouged his flesh as she struck him again and again. He was making a noise somewhere between panting and whimpering by the time she backed off to let another Dragon have a go at him. The older gangsters were patting the young punk on the back, obviously impressed by the amount of damage she'd inflicted on Leo's already battered body.

The beating went on.

Sometimes it was a street punk, bashing him with a bat, or a nail riddled board. Other times it was a ninja, slashing at him with a sword, or inflicting multiple blows with propeller-like nunchucks. He didn't care. He couldn't. He was too busy trying to control his cries of pain. Eventually, the strikes stopped raining down on him, and were replaced with the jeers and laughter of the small crowd.

"Stupid Freak!"

"Weakling!"

"Dumb reptile!"

"Pathetic...Bastard...Useless...Mongrel..."

Was there anything they didn't see him as? He thought of the old saying, 'sticks and stones...', and had an almost Raph-like urge to punch the lying, idiotic jerk who'd coined the phrase. He could feel tears rolling slowly down his cheeks.

"Awww, does the itty bitty mutant freak want his Daddy? Does he wanna go home?" The one who'd attacked first taunted, his voice cruel and mocking.

'_Yes. Yes, I want to go home. Yes, I want to be with my father. Yes, Yes, YES.' _Leo thought, clenching his teeth to keep from screaming it at the man. The crowd laughed and snickered, and egged the man on. Leo just tried to tone out his words, to keep from losing control. He hardly noticed when the whole room started shouting one word;

"Kill, kill, kill, kill!"

He frowned; wasn't that Shredder's job? The blade, a short, steel tanto, being forced against the flesh of his throat made him shiver. He heard the ringleader's voice behind his head.

"Where should I start, boys?"

Suggestions, bloodthirsty and heartless, were offered to him by his audience as his victim breathed heavily, all hope dead.

The man started by carving 'ANIMAL' into Leo's right shoulder.

The teen was grateful that unconsciousness embraced him so quickly.

So. Whadda ya think?

Leo: That I hate you so much?

...

Me: No one asked you, Leo.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, all. Sorry for the wait. Firstly, DISCLAIMER!

Leo: Hey everyone. Fortunately for me, Moony doesn't own the TMNT franchise.

Roran: Nor does she own Eragon. Apparently, she referances it at some point.

Ari: She doesn't own Maximum Ride either. I do. *trollface*

Me: Ari, get out of here with those dirty thoughts!

Back to Nessie and the guys in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-

The lone Foot ninja made her way into the abandoned penitentiary, moving with the stealth and silence of long years experience. She calmly presented her ID to a guard, who motioned her to remove her mask. She did so. Vanessa, with her hair cropped short and neat, looked expectantly at the guard as he looked between the photo, and the girl.

"Wasn't it Josh Nightlock?"He asked warily.

"Special undercover mission." Vanessa rolled her eyes, "Real name's Johanna Nightlock. Good to meet you." He nodded, still looking a little suspicious. She reclaimed the ID Donatello had made after a quick analysis of the data encoded on Josh's card, and walked down the hallway at a leisurely pace. The guard looked after her quizzically, then blinked as if he was waking from a daydream.

'It's working, guys. I hexed the guard, so he won't remember why he didn't trust me.' She thought, glad that she was a mage.

'Don't get cocky, Ness.' Raph thought back. She snickered.

'That's likely.'

'I didn't even see you do it!' Mikey chimed helpfully, earning him a look from Raph. The rest of the Hamato Clan was waiting in the BattleShell, letting Vanessa do what she did best; infiltration and information extraction. In other words, Raph was sort of irritated that Vanessa might well get first go at the Shredder, her main intended source.

' Of course you didn't. Do you think I'd let it be visible to security cameras? Dummy.' Even Splinter had to smile at Mikey's ignorance.

'Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.' The youngest muttered, his face hidden behind his arms.

They continued to monitor the video feed, watching as Vanessa searched the building.

'Ugh, this place reeks of White-Coats. Almost glad I don't have a canine nose right now.' Vanessa wrinkled her (human) nose, looking warily around for the lab the scientists were surely inside. She spotted a door, on the left hand side of the hall, and crept over to it. There was a small window set in the steel, and she peered warily inside.

'Huh. That's a little weird. Only one person in there, temp secretary by the look of her. Why does a Foot-Itex genetics lab need a temp?' Nessa frowned deeply.

'Get a shot of her ID with your Shell-Cell; I'll see what I can find.' Don tried to send reassurance to his sister, who he knew still didn't do labs very well. She acknowledged him, and slid her phone out of her pocket. She looked, for all the world, like she was just texting, and a profile picture of the woman in question, with a clear view of her ID, appeared on screen in the BattleShell. Don began typing furiously.

'How long do you need?' Vanessa's mental voice was uneasy, as she walked down the hallway to throw off the suspicious look one Foot Ninja was giving her as he passed, on a security round.

'Just need to hack into their database...Got it! Dokara Theca; temporary lab assistant. Says here that she's studying under Dr. Roland Ter Borsht.

'That's just fan-freaking-tastic. Ter Borsht's understudy would appear to be a _mage_.'

'Come AGAIN?' Raph thought, incredulous. Vanessa had once explained that the chance of meeting another magic user on their world was next to none. It couldn't, he thought to himself, be coincidence.

'She feels pretty powerful, too. Like, battle mage powerful. She could blast this whole building and barely feel the drain, I'll bet.' She watched as the young woman moved around the lab, checking a few machines. She moved to a desk, and shuffled a stack of paperwork, putting it into a manila tag folder. 'My guess is the Shredder was smarting after our last fight, and fished around the criminal underground for a mage with no scruples about killing people. They're more common than the honorable ones.' She quickly darted out of the way as the woman walked towards the lab door, and hid inside a small room who's door was ajar, not even looking around as she hid, watching. The door irised open, and the woman stepped out, her lab coat slung over one arm. Her rust red hair had been quickly put up with chopsticks, and she wore a neat, midnight blue skirt suit, short enough that it wasn't visible when her coat was on. Vanessa watched warily as she strode past. She didn't move, or even breath, until the woman was out of hearing range. She then turned, to get a better look at the room she'd ducked into.

She gasped, holding back the scream of terror she wanted to let out.

'Ness, what is it?!' Don could feel the horror and shock leaching from her mind into theirs over the mental link. She couldn't construct an answer for several seconds.

'I...I think this is where they kept him...Goddess, there's so much _blood..._I...Goddess.' She lifted her phone, snapping pictures of the tiny, cell-like room, and the bloody messages scribed on the walls and floor. Mikey cried out when he saw the room his brother had been confined to, and the message painted in the biggest letters in the photographs.

**'My name is Leonardo Hamato. I am 16 years old. I want to die. It hurts so ****bad****. PLEASE LET ME ****DIE****.'**

"Oh my God. Holy- " Raph was the first to speak out loud, and in a cracked, horrified voice. He couldn't find words to say. The bloody letters scrawled on every flat surface of the cell told a horror story, something that no words on his part could ever change. His older brother had given up. He'd been in too much pain, for too long, and something had snapped under the pressure. The Shredder had broken him.

'Ter Borsht and Shredder are gonna pay for this. I swear, on the wolf gods, they'll pay dearly.' Vanessa's thought was a deadly snarl, foretelling murder. 'Judging by the smell, he hasn't been in this room for over 2 days. They moved him. Damn it.'

'Is there any way of determining where they moved him to, Vanessa?' Splinter asked, ignoring the profanity.

'I could do a little poking around, but they might not have a record of any of this. I'll need the code to the lab's touch-pad, if you can get it, Donnie.'

'I'll give it a shot. Can you plug the phone into the console, Nessie?'

'Yeppers. Gimmie a sec.' She peered out through the half open door, checking the hallway. Seeing that she had a clear shot, she darted to the sealed iris, pulling the retracting USB cord from her phone and stabbing it into the jack on the console. 'Okay. Work your magic, Donnie.' Don didn't answer, already typing at a near impossible speed as he jumped firewalls and avoided protection programming. The Hamato family held their breaths, watching anxiously as the teen genius worked. Suddenly, Don let out a soft 'YES!', as a string of numbers and letters scrolled across his screen.

'Try '2242hExaGoN'.' Vanessa quickly typed in the sequence, grinning as the door irised open for her.

'Donnie, you are the _turtle_.' She thought as she moved forward into the darkened lab. The door shut behind her. She looked around, shivering slightly. 'I'm going to try paper files first. Less chance of detection the fewer times we use the computer system. And I know how Ter Borsht likes to organize his information.' She padded over to the filing cabinets that took up one wall, quickly looking over the drawer fronts before opening one. She leafed through the manila tag folders, wincing at the smell of blood and pain that they were saturated with.

'Anything?' Raph asked after a few minutes of watching her leaf through files.

'Oh, lots of stuff. Just not exactly what we need.' Her mental voice was ice cold, 'I don't, for example, think knowing the exact voltage of electricity that was needed to knock Leo out, or how they _came_ to that information, is going to be very helpful.'

'Jesus.' Raph thought in horror. What else had they done to his brother? Vanessa sighed, 'This isn't going to work. I'm trying the computers.' She moved quickly to a console, using the same password as the door's, to access a user that was loaded with information. 'Here's what we want. They moved him _three_ days ago, actually. The rest is encoded. Give me a sec. Hmmm, it doesn't actually give an address, of course, but-'

"HEY! You aren't authorised to be in here! Explain yourself!" Vanessa turned, swearing violently. A Foot Tech ninja stood, sword level with her heart. She glared at him, then let it twist into a wicked smile.

"I believe the term for what you've just done is 'stepping in a knee-high pile of horse shit'." As the ninja blinked in confusion, she whipped to the side, grabbed and twisted his sword arm, and punched him in the face. The man went down with a weak cry, shuddering at the pain in his arm, which had snapped like a twig. She ripped off his mask, revealing a greasy looking man, with oily brown hair and darting green eyes. He spat at her, and she kicked him in the gut, hard.

"The mutant that was kept here, experimented on. Where did your people move him to?" He closed his mouth tightly, and she grabbed his shirt-front, lifting him off the ground, "Look, pal. I am NOT in the mood for more of this 'I'm not telling' bullshit. Tell me where he is, or I will kill you. As slowly as I can afford to."

The man didn't say a word.

"Alright. That's it. I'm done playing the good cop here." She dragged him over to a chair, already equipped with handcuffs, and snapped the cuffs onto his wrists, "You really picked a bad time to be loyal to the Shredder, buddy." She stalked over to a cupboard, pulled the door open, and quickly swept her nose past the vials inside. She plucked out a vial filled with brilliant golden liquid.

'What the shell is she doing?' Mikey thought in confusion as she dug out a syringe and filled it with the liquid, turning on the Foot Tech.

'I do not know, Michelangelo. However, I have that feeling that whatever it is, I will not approve.' Splinter responded, watching as Nessie circled the bound ninja.

"You know what this is." Vanessa stated, looking the ninja in the eye. He was visibly shaken.

"Tracker Jacker venom. You don't have the guts."

"I wouldn't bet on that. This also seems to be a lethal dose for a human, am I right?" She continued circling, "You have a choice. Tell me where he is, or I keep giving you shots, equivalent to one sting, until you're stone dead. I've seen humans last for 10 stings, but they were pretty screwed up from 'em. So. Tell, or sting?"

He remained silent.

"Your own god damned choice." She shrugged, and stabbed the needle into the man's neck, injecting very little of the liquid. Within seconds, his face contorted in agony, and he let out a cry of pain. "Will you just tell me? I don't really want to kill you, you know."

"Go to Hell, you bitch!" He yelped, writhing in pain. She 'stung' him again, and he howled in agony.

"Tell me. NOW." She snarled in irritation. The man, however, was clearly not in any shape to answer her. He was crying softly, whispering,

"Ian, God, Ian, no! No. No. NO!"

'Go a little too far, Nessie?' Raph thought sardonically.

'Just far enough, actually. He probably won't remember this happening, he won't suffer any serious damage, and I can just take the information from his mind now that he can't shield it.' She then touched the man's forehead with her right hand, and let her mind enter his, her consciousness searching through this labyrinth of thoughts, until she found the memories she sought. She carefully ran through them, memorizing times, addresses, directions, just how badly injured Leo was. She also found a memory of the Tech filing video recordings of the tests done on Leo in the computer. She let him fall, drawing her memory stick out of her pocket and downloading the files before the others could ask why. Then, she let her whole body ripple into the shape of a full grown wolf, and raced down the corridors and into the night, to join the family that waited for her.

Yeah. Kinda edgy about this chapter. Any advice is appreciated. And there will be at least 1 chapter more posted today, 'cause I've been bad and haven't posted in a while.


	5. Chapter 5

tOO LAZY TO WRITE A NOTE...refer to chap 4 for disclaimer.

Finnick: Just here to add Hunger Games to the disclaimer list. This girl sure likes to pull from everything, huh? Plus, this story needs a little sex appeal-

Me: Finnick, OUT!

Leo couldn't even scream in pain anymore. Screaming only brought him more pain, so he'd decided to just shut up. Permanently. No more screaming. No more crying. No begging for mercy, half insane from the agony he was experiencing. Just silence. It really seemed to be pissing Shredder off. He could live with that.

The Shredder currently had him chained up by his wrists, dangling from the ceiling, several feet above the ground. He was circling him slowly, slashing at him with a tanto every few seconds. Blood dripped to the floor, and Leo could feel himself losing strength, slowly becoming dizzy. And tired. So damn tired.

"You will tell me where your family is!" The Shredder hissed, fury evident in his voice. Leo just looked down, his mouth a tight line. He wouldn't condemn his family to this fate. Never. Incensed, the Shredder slashed his left cheek open, just below his eye. He bit his tongue, not allowing the scream to come out. He would not speak. He would not scream. Never again would he do that. Better to be silent. Except for his blood writings, which didn't even make sense to him anymore. "You will tell me, or die!"

'Die,' he thought, 'I will die. You will never touch them, Shredder.' The knife cut across his side this time, drawing an angry current of red blood. He felt the fog he'd come to appreciate as a desert dweller loves water, and embraced it like an old friend. 'Never.'

Vanessa inserted the USB stick into Don's computer. It was daytime now, and Donatello's rescue plan couldn't be put into play until nightfall. Vanessa had told them all about the recordings, what they were. All of them had agreed; they needed to know how badly the Shredder, Ter Borsht, and the mysterious mage had hurt Leo. They held a collective breath as the recording began to play.

The slightly grainy image on the screen was tinted green, indicating night vision. Raph immediately found his eldest brother in the image, slumped heavily against a wall.

"Experiment 1, time is 16:30, day one of research. Subject is a male human terrapin hybrid, approximately 16 years of age. Subject has been given a high, but non-lethal dosage of the venom of the wasp species sometimes referred to as 'Tracker Jackers'. We will be documenting the exact effect of said venom on the emotional, mental, and physical reactions of the subject to a situation of extreme duress." The voice was female, and she spoke as if this 'experiment' wouldn't be harmful. But Splinter had seen what Tracker Jacker venom had done to the Foot Tech.

"Vanessa, could you explain what exactly this substance does?" He asked, softly. She nodded hesitantly.

"Tracker Jacker venom causes excruciating pain, nausea, very realistic hallucinations, and it can kill. The venom was specifically designed to target the parts of the brain responsible for fear, and it does its job very well." She shuddered, "You saw the Tech. And Joel and I got to experience the effects first hand in the Gauntlet. It isn't easy to keep sane under the best of circumstances, let alone-" She was cut off by her own voice on camera.

"Leo? Leo! Leo, where are you!" She sounded terrified. Absolutely terrified. And then she screamed, as if she was being tortured.

"Nessie...? No, leave her alone...let her go! Stop it! Let her GO!" Leo's cries were just as horrible as her own. Vanessa's mouth was a round little 'O' of surprise and shock.

"How are they _doing _that?! That's my voice!"

"Leo, Leo, where are you?! LEO!"Mikey's voice, screaming shrilly, as if he was trying to fight off an attacker, and failing.

"NO! Mikey, Nessa, no! Don't hurt them, please, don't!-"

"Leo?! Leo, where are ya?" Raph was yelling, then screaming, too. Leo was clutching at his head by then, keening in pain and fear. Splinter could only imagine the images that his son's confused mind was creating to match the sounds. Raph stared at the screen, dumbfounded.

"How the shell-" He whispered as Don's voice joined the screaming. Don quietly whispered,

"They must have recorded us when we were searching the rooftops, the day they took him. They could have used audio manipulation to make it sound like we were screaming. But I still don't see any speakers in the room-" he stopped short as a bird flew in front of the camera, Vanessa's screams coming from its beak. She gasped.

"That's a Jabberjay! Gods, I thought they'd all been wiped out!" At the quizzical looks of her brothers and father, she continued, "They can imitate any sound, any voice that they've heard. They add an element of realism to the voices that a speaker just can't." She looked sadly at the screen, "Poor Leo."

"Please, no! No, no, nonononono...!" Leo's whole body was shaking almost convulsively, his head in his hands. "Please, leave them alone! Please, God, PLEASE!"

"Why did they do this?! Mikey looked like he was about to cry, "What the Shell is the _point_?!" Vanessa looked coldly at the screen, where Leo had finally collapsed into the 'coma' stage of the venom's course.

"It's like why they make Erasers go through the Gauntlet. There's no point. There's no reason at all." Her fists clenched, "It's entertainment to them. It isn't even scientific, not really. It's just that they can do it, and get away with it. Like Mengalé during the Holocaust. They can, and they do. Sick Bastards." She shook her head as the woman began speaking again, rattling on about Leo's heart and breathing rates, among other medical jargon that none of them, not even Donnie, wanted to try to understand.

Watching the tapes, which was what the longest 12 hours of their lives consisted of, was torture. Of course, they all know that what they were experiencing was nothing compared to how Leo had suffered. How, very likely, he was still suffering, even as they were kept from finding him by the turn of the planet. When they came to the final video file, Mikey had already cried himself numb against Raph's shoulder, and Splinter, usually the first to say that violence would solve nothing, wanted nothing more than to kill the people responsible for the weakened, trembling mess his eldest had been reduced to. His son's defiance when Ter Borsht asked him to explain the bloody words he'd written on the floor heartened him; Leonardo hadn't yet given up all hope. But as they watched, and realised what the scientists were about to do, in truth what they had already done, they knew that he'd been broken beyond repair.

"Oh, Goddess. Oh, Great Goddess, no. They didn't. Please, don't let this have happened."Vanessa whispered, her eyes wide with horror as she watched Dokara Theca stick an IV drip into Leo's arm. He was bound, helpless, clearly terrified beyond anything he'd experienced before. When Ter Borsht lowered the surgical saw to his plastron, she ran from the room, a hand clamped over her mouth. Don shut off the recording, eyes so clouded with tears of anger and fear that he couldn't see. Raph was the first to speak, and the tone of his voice foretold murder.

"I don't give a damn if it's still light out or not. We're going. NOW."

rEAD. Review, plz.


	6. Chapter 6

hEY ALL! Moony here! Yes, 3 chapters in two days. The world really must be ending. This is where the action really starts to pick up, so hold onto your potatoes! (anyone who can name where that quote came from shall get cookies!)

Anyways. Onward.

...

The Shredder didn't know what to do. The turtle was useless; broken would be a kind description. He wouldn't even scream in pain anymore, let alone speak. No information about the lair of the Hamato Clan, or anything else, for that matter, would ever leave him. The Shredder paced before his floor to ceiling window, weighing his options.

He could, of course, kill the boy. Rid himself of the greatest thorn in his side he'd ever had to deal with, perhaps barring Mortu. Grant Ter Borsht, his worthiest scientist yet, the privilege of completely dissecting the freak's body, down to the smallest organs and the brain, which the man was extremely eager to study. The wrath of the Hamato Clan, he was willing to risk. If they ever found out.

On the other hand, he could keep the whelp alive. Attempt to somehow brainwash him into doing the bidding of the Foot Clan. He would be a valuable asset, making the Hamato Clan hesitant to attack, for fear of killing their leader.

'Decisions, decisions.' He thought, crossing his arms with a sigh.

"Master Shredder...?" A hesitant voice sounded behind him. He turned; it was one of his Foot Ninja.

"Speak."

"There's been a security breach, sir. Video footage indicates that it's the turtles, the wolf girl, and the rat."

In that instant, Shredder made his decision.

The alarm klaxon started blaring loudly just as they reached three floors down from where Leo was being kept. The building was a 'normal office building' owned and run by Saki Enterprises and ITEX, and they had sure proof that Leo was here already.

"Let's move it, guys! We've got a few minutes at best before we get swarmed by Foot or Erasers, or Gods know what else!" Vanessa shouted, sprinting forward in wolf form. They all followed, determination keeping them all silent.

The door to Leo's cell opened, and he managed to lift his head and look up. The Shredder stood in the doorway. He let his head fall again, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard the Shredder's metal boots clanging slightly as he walked over. He flinched when the Shredder's metal glove touched his face, forcing him to look up. His other hand held the most unlikely object Leo could have imagined; a cup of tea. Leo immediately knew that something wasn't right. Something was, in fact, horribly wrong. Why the shell would the Shredder bring him a cup of tea?

He then smelt a faint aroma of bitter almonds wafting from the cup.

He tried to fight, the last inklings of his strength failing as the Shredder forced his mouth open, and poured the liquid into his mouth. He clamped his hand over the struggling terrapin's mouth and nostrils, forcing him to swallow. Leo coughed and gagged, desperately trying to vomit up the liquid before it could fulfill its task. The Shredder watched as his body heaved, trying to purge the poison from his system, but it had already taken effect. Leonardo slumped to the floor, his skin flushed, his breathing rapid and shallow.

'And so comes the end of Leonardo Hamato.' He thought, leaving the room to deal with the intruders. He let the cup slid from his fingers as he walked away.

Vanessa slammed her wolf body against the door, ripping it off its hinges. She let out a snarl as she saw what waited for them on the other side. A lab, horrible and white, with dead bodies in preservation tanks along the walls. Human, animal, and mutant bodies. Before the tanks stood three figures she knew well, and she heard Raph's growl of rage beside her.

"You are too late, freaks!" The Shredder chuckled deeply, "Your brother only has minutes left, if he hasn't died already!"

The young mutant saw red, and let out a vicious roar, leaping for the monsters who had kidnapped her brother. She sensed Raph and Splinter racing towards The Shredder, and Donatello and Mikey heading for Ter Borsht. She adjusted to tackle Dokara. The mage barely managed to avoid her, and rolled to the side as Vanessa landed, snarling.

"It's almost an honour to fight you, Wolf Girl. I've heard stories. Shame I'll have to kill you, whelp." The woman's voice was melodic, almost like a ringing bell, but with a cruel undertone. She was a murderer, and Vanessa knew it.

"Yeah. Shame, that. Only it isn't me who's gonna die, you sorry waste of a human life." She phased back to her mutant form, glaring at the witch, "You picked the wrong girl to screw around with, Bitch." She launched herself forward, drawing her knife, and slashed at the woman. Dokara sidestepped, drawing a stone knife, and letting out a shriek,

"Jierda!" There was a sick snap, and a Foot Ninja who'd been kicked back into the spell's path fell, his back broken. Vanessa swore, then cast a spell of her own.

"Verma vindr!" The air surrounding Dokara suddenly shimmered with heat, as Vanessa drew on the power of machines around her to fuel the spell. The woman twisted in the spell's grip, sweat breaking out across her brow. Vanessa shook her head, then whispered darkly, "Ono ach _néiat _threyja eom verrunsmal edtha, O Dokara."

"Thenya!" The woman snapped, then murmured a quick string of words that caused the air to cool, and Vanessa to fly backwards, into a metal wall. The wall warped, strips of metal ripping and shearing, then binding her tightly to the wall.

"Nessie!" Don shouted, seeing her in his peripheral vision as he darted after Ter Borsht, who was fleeing with Mikey on his tail.

"Mind your own target, Baka!" She shouted, clearly trying to break free of her bonds. He obeyed, racing after the scientist, whose mechanical eye truly unnerved him.

'Can you break free on your own?' He thought, resisting the urge to run back to her side.

'YES, Damnit! Don't teach a wolf to hunt deer! Finish Ter Borsht and find Leo!' He nodded, then stopped dead, realising that Mikey was backing away from a huge form moving down the hall.

"Oh...SHELL..." He breathed, raising his Bo.

Raphael and Splinter had their work cut out for them with the Shredder, so when Don screamed, all Raph could do was flash a quick glance in his direction. The mutated beast, that had wrapped Don in thick greyish tentacles about as wide around as his arms, was bigger than a dump truck, and Ter Borsht seemed to be controlling it somehow. In any case, it had a matching robotic eye.

"Donnie!" Raph shouted, even as he turned to deal another blow to the Shredder. Splinter turned and saw the creature slamming Donatello into a wall, as Mikey frantically dodged the tentacles that were grasping at him.

"Do you like my pet? It took years of genetic and magical research to create him, but it was well worth it. He took quite a liking to Roland here, so they work as one. I call him an Arachnozoid." Dokara giggled as she stalked towards Nessa, looking like a snake about to poison her prey. Vanessa glared at her, casting a glance at Donnie. He was trying desperately to pull himself out of the monster's grip, and she felt fury rip through her.

"Kverst malmr du huildrs edtha, mar frëma né thön eka threyja!" She hissed, and the metal shore just enough for her to rip her way free of the wall and whisper, "Frethya."

Dokara blinked, looking back and forth from the spot Vanessa had disappeared to the beast and Donatello.

"You can hide from me, you pathetic child, but you can't hide forever! Even now, your body weakens from the spell you've cast! Surrender, and I'll kill you quickly!"

Vanessa frantically reached for the mind of the Arachnozoid, intending to reason with it. Instead of an animal mind, she found the mind of a child. A very young, very frightened little girl.

'Help me! Please, help me! I can't get out! I'm trapped!' the girl's voice wailed in terror.

'Calm down. I'll help you if you stop attacking my brothers!' Vanessa sent reassurance to the child, realising that it was a human soul, trapped in this body. There was absolutely no greater crime. None.

'I want my brother! Josh! Josh, help me! I can't make him stop hurting these people!' Vanessa realised the connection as soon as the girl's mind showed her evidence; the eyes. The mechanical eyes were the physical connection. Vanessa quickly whipped her hand up, and whispered the Ancient word for 'break', causing the creature's eye to explode. Ter Borsht screamed, clutching his head, and falling to the ground in violent convulsions.

"NO!" Dokara screamed in rage, as the creature fell, dead. The girl's soul was free.

"Donnie, go find Leo! Mikey, you help Sensei and Raph. I'll handle the witch." They nodded, Don racing down the corridor, checking cells as he went. Vanessa turned to Dokara as the battle continued between Shredder and her brothers.

"You can't stop me! I won't fail! I will NOT fail!" The woman screamed, her voice cracking.

"You used the soul of a _child _to create a monster you could control! You are the lowest creature I have EVER encountered in my life! And I swear, on the Moon, and the Wolf Gods, that **_I will kill you_**!" With that, she let fire pour from her hands, and bent it to engulf the woman. She saw the Shredder go down, and Raph following Donnie's path as soon as he'd stuffed a grenade into the robot's chest cavity. Splinter paused, looking at Vanessa.

"I've got this! Get Leo, and get him out of here!" She shouted, dodging as flames ricocheted back at her. He nodded, and he and Mikey ran as the explosive detonated. It broke Vanessa's concentration, and sent both combatants sprawling. As she rose, Dokara pulled a black crystal, filled with multiple points of light, out of her shirt. The stone was carved into a knife. Vanessa was shocked when the woman stabbed not her, but herself, driving the stone into her own heart. She didn't cry out, but began to laugh. Fire seemed to burn away her hair and eyes, leaving maroon irises and flaming red hair. Vanessa gasped, stepping back.

The fight had just become far more dangerous.

Sooo,

Thoughts, comments, complaints about my endless referances to other fandoms?-

Leo: Now that you mention it, I've got a few-HEY! MY KATANAS!

Me: Back off, and I may return them, big guy.

Leo: Manipulative little bugger, aren't you?

REVIEW! FEED THE AUTHOR! THANKS FOR READING!


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note- Hey everyone! Sorry I took so long in posting this chapter! As a treat, you get 2 chapters tonight! Aren't you lucky. Anyways, I am all done school for the year, so updates should come more frequently. Here's your next tidbit!

* * *

Don pushed another cell open, only to find it was empty. Panting, he sprinted to the next door. Empty. Just like the next. But the door after that opened on something other than bare stone.

"LEO!" He screamed, because there was no logical thing to do. His brother lay in a limp heap, still except for his extremely shallow breathing. His eyes were closed, his skin covered in wounds, some festering, others oozing liquid, and still others seemed to be spreading blood poisoning through his body. His legs both lay at odd angles, clearly broken, and his wrists were both at least sprained. Bruising all over his sides and upper chest showed just how much damage the vivisection he'd endured had caused.

He was afraid to touch him, for fear of causing him more pain. He slowly, numbly, knelt beside his brother, taking in the needle marks on his biceps, all infected and bruised, and the deep bruise in the crook of his left arm, from numerous IV lines he'd been subject to. The injuries were all the more clear due to the emaciated state of his body. Most of his muscle mass had been converted into energy to keep him alive, in the absence of food and water.

"Oh, God, Leo-" He whispered, gently touching his brother's hand. He didn't stir.

"My son-!" Splinter's voice broke, as he entered the room, and knelt beside the prone body of his eldest child. He looked horrified; he couldn't bear the thought of his eldest having been through so much pain. Raph collapsed beside Don, a look that blended agony, rage, and sorrow transforming his features. Mikey just blinked repeatedly, obviously in shock.

"What do we do? Don, what do we do?" Raph whispered softly. Don quickly looked at the position of his brother's neck.

"I don't think there's spinal damage, a-and it's probably best if we sit him up. So he can breathe easier." Raph nodded, gently easing Leo's head and shoulders off the ground, leaning his brother's upper body against his own. His legs were jostled, despite Raph's careful movement, and Leo let out a quiet moan.

"Leo? Can ya hear me, bro?" Raph asked, very gently. Leo's body trembled, and the flush of his skin continued to deepen as his breathing became still weaker and more shallow. His eyes opened, just a little sliver. His normally brilliant dark blue eyes were dull. Dead.

"...Ra...ph..." He barely breathed it, his voice rough, as if he'd been eating sand for weeks.

"Yeah, bro, it's me. Donnie 'n Mikey 'n Sensei are here, too. We gotcha, bro." Raph looked ready to cry, though from sadness or relief, the others didn't know.

"...m...I...dead...?"Leo looked up at them, confusion clear on his face.

"No, my son. You are alive, and we are going to take you home." Splinter gently touched his eldest's forehead. Leo tried to shake his head.

"...no...the..**_cup_**...Shredder...poisoned..." Don frowned, looking around the room. A Japanese tea cup lay, cracked from a fall to the floor, to one side of the cell door. He picked it up, and sniffed the inside, his face paling.

"Don...?" Raph looked at his face, a growing fear in his gut.

"Bitter almonds. He poisoned Leo with cyanide. Potassium Cyanide." Don's voice shook with anger, disbelief, and pain. The shear injustice of the act made the young genius want to cry. "We need to get him out of here, and find a way to get the specialized treatment from a hospital." He looked back to Leo, who was clearly losing the fight to stay conscious.

"How long?" Raph whispered, looking between Leo and Don, whose face was a mask of pain.

"An hour at the most. Even that might be a little too hopeful. And it depends on how long ago the Shredder poisoned him, too." Don looked between his brothers and father, "Cyanide affects the brain, heart, and central nervous system. Time is everything."

"...I...it h-hurts..." Leo's soft whimper brought Raph's attention back to his big brother, whose face was contorted in pain.

"It's gonna be okay, Leo. You're gonna be okay." He gently ran a hand over Leo's cheek, wiping away tears that had mixed with blood from some of his cuts. A sudden explosion in the hall outside sent Don scrambling for the door.

"Vanessa!" He yelled, shock widening his eyes. The wolf girl was encased in shards of glass that were fusing together around her body, even as she struggled, and the glass exploded in places. Dokara, her hair and eyes unnaturally red, was covered in the remnants of a web of briars, her clothes torn to ribbons.

"Donnie, GO! Get OUT OF HERE! She's a Shade, she's too powerful! Get the others, and go!" Before Don could respond, the Shade, Dokara, let out a haunting, bloodthirsty laugh.

"They aren't going _anywhere _girl, and neither are you! All so full of pretty light. Except the broken one, but he's nearly faded. Your light will feed us for many years!" She pointed a finger towards Don, screaming out a word. A beam of red light shattered the stone wall right next to his head, even as he drew back with a yelp.

"Don?!" Raph shouted, seeing Don's terrified face. Don pointed behind him.

"We're in big trouble. Really big trouble."

"This is not a good time!" Splinter muttered, rising and moving to the door. He looked out, and then back at Don, "What can we do to aid Vanessa, so that we may leave this place?"

"She told me about Shades once. Uh, she said you can only kill one by stabbing it through the heart."Don peered frantically around the door.

"How the Shell are we supposed ta do that when she's firing laser beams at us?!" Raph growled softly, cradling Leo's head, as the eldest had slid back into unconsciousness.

"I don't-" Don was cut off by a massive blast of air whipping through the entire floor of the building. They were all thrown off balance, Raph curling protectively around Leo, as a booming voice screamed,

"DOKARA THECA, YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES!" It was a male voice, one the three younger brothers and Splinter had heard once before.

"Is that-" Mikey started, as Don and Splinter looked around the door.

"It is Josh Nightlock. And he is very angry." Splinter murmured, looking on in amazement. The teen was floating, several feet above the ground, his eyes pure black. The containers holding the dead mutant, human, and animal bodies all began to shatter, and the bodies began to move, as if intent on avenging their own deaths.

"You killed my sister, drugged and enchanted me into your service, and tortured these souls until they died. Now, they will find their peace in your death." He glared at her, even as Vanessa broke free of her prison, "And so will I."

"Josh-" Vanessa whispered, looking up at him in awe.

"Get your family. Go. I'll make sure she can never harm another living thing." Josh raised his hands, and the dead picked up long shards of glass, and dragged themselves towards the Shade.

"NO! You cannot defeat me! I- I- aigh!" The Shade shrieked as she fought, clearly afraid of the vengeance being exacted on her. Vanessa raced to the cell Leo was in, and waved them all out.

"Time to go, guys! Window of opportunity, closing fast!" Raph gently lifted Leo's body off the ground, and he followed directly behind Vanessa as they raced for an exit. There was a terrible shriek from the lab, and they gasped as the Shade seemed to explode into a million shadows. Each one exploded in turn, sparking more, bigger and more violent explosions.

"We must hurry!" Splinter shouted over the noise, "This structure will not remain standing for much longer!"

"It will stand long enough, father of Leonardo!" Josh's voice rang out. The corpses, burning and missing pieces, were helping him to hold up a support column, and his power seemed to be replicating the effect throughout the building.

"Josh, the spell, it'll kill you!" Vanessa cried, clearly about to cry, "No one can hold a spell this big!" She shook Don's hand off her shoulder, and whispered, "Go. I'm right behind you." He nodded uncertainly, and ran after the others. "It doesn't have to end like this, Josh. You don't have to die!" He looked at her, through the flames that were springing from the Shade's explosive ending. He looked sad, guilty, and almost pitying.

"I'm a Necromancer, Vanessa. I'm no better than she was. And I have nothing left to live for. By helping you all escape, I can pay for some of the damage I did." He looked away, "Maybe I'll be able to find my sister when I cross over. Then she won't be alone."

"What was her name?" Vanessa asked softly, knowing that she didn't have time to ask the question, but doing it anyway.

"Bianca. Bianca Nightlock." He whispered, his body shuddering from grief, and the strain of the powerful spell.

'Joshie?' Josh, is that you?' A soft, stray thought brushed against Vanessa's mind as it streaked towards Josh. She felt the joy, pain, remorse, sorrow, everything that the two minds felt, and she felt peace in both of them, too. Josh looked at her, tears in his eyes. She felt Don screaming her name in terror; the building was going to collapse. They were safe, and she was not.

"We can still make it if we run!" She shouted to him. He nodded, and raised his hands towards the corpses, who turned towards him.

"The task is finished. Sleep, and be at peace, my friends. You did good." The corpses lost all animation, falling limply to the ground, as he sprinted alongside her, fleeing the building where his sister had been murdered, and where he'd avenged her death. They saw that the stairs were on fire, and silent agreement passed between them. They ran for the nearest window, and Vanessa shattered the glass with a spell. They flew into the sky, the thrill of gravity's pull sending adrenaline through their veins, even as Vanessa wove a spell around them to drift them ground-wards, and towards her family. Don ran forward, catching her in a tight embrace.

"If you _ever_ do that to me again, I'll kill you _myself_!" His voice was choked; his older brother, dying, and his little sister inside a burning, collapsing building, was a little too much for him to handle.

"I daren't then. Leo...?" She looked towards the Battle Shell, parked a few feet away.

"Alive, but we need the medicine from the hospital-"

"I'll get it. And I'll leave money, so it isn't stealing." She shifted into wolf form, looking at Josh. He was watching the building burn, as if waiting for something. "You okay, Josh?"

"Yes. Just watching. I'll be alright, Vanessa. We all will." He looked at her, "Go. I've an idea of where I'm headed." She nodded, and took off running down the streets of New York, shimmering a little and becoming invisible before she was a block away. He turned slightly to look at Don, "Good luck with your brother." He bowed slightly, then walked off into the shadows. Donatello could have sworn he saw a little girl holding his hand.

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So, whadda ya think? Read and review!

Nessa


	8. Chapter 8

mOVING RIGHT ALONG...

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The drive to the Lair was the most awful torture any of them had to endure that night. Even the tapes seemed survivable compared to the pain of not knowing. Not knowing if Vanessa had yet reached a hospital, if she was alright, if she already had the medicine that would save their brother. Not knowing if Leo was going to wake up, if they would make it in time.

"Don?" Raph looked at his immediate older brother, who had slumped against the wall of the Battle Shell. He, Raph noted, looked exhausted. He hadn't even begun treating Leo's injuries past bandaging those that were still bleeding.

"It's nothing, Raph. I'm probably just-"

"Don. You don't 'just'. What is it?" Raph murmured, knowing Splinter could probably hear, and praying Mikey, who was driving, couldn't.

"Cyanide directly affects brain function because it keeps the body from absorbing oxygen from the blood. That's why his skin's so dark, despite the blood he's lost. If he has to make do on limited oxygen for too long,..." He looked between Leo, who was secured to the medical cot he'd built into their vehicle, "He might be...different. He could suffer brain damage, if he hasn't from the other things they've done to him. Not to mention the psychological trauma he's lived through..."

"So, yer sayin' he might be a few bricks short of a load." It wasn't a question, and Don hated to put it that way, but he nodded.

"We're nearly to the garage, guys." Mikey chirped over his shoulder, oblivious to the conversation taking place behind him. Don nodded his thanks for the warning, wondering if Vanessa was on her way to the Lair yet. His thought was interrupted by Raph, who cried out as Leo's body convulsed , nearly flailing his way off the cot.

"What's happening?!" Mikey shouted, looking over his shoulder as he turned the corner to the garage.

"He's having a seizure! The poisoning's advancing faster than I thought! Raph, help me, he's going to hurt himself!" He quickly grabbed Leo's legs, trying to hold them still, so that the broken bones didn't become more damaged. Raph caught Leo's shoulders, trying to keep him from slamming his head around. A weak, steady whine came from Leo's mouth, slipping from between clenched teeth.

"Hang on, Leo. Just hang on! It's gonna be okay!"Raph gently coached as his brother's body writhed uncontrollably. Tears slid down his cheeks as he watched his brother, struggling for air, despite the abundance of the stuff. Leo was gasping hungrily, as if he could breathe clearly if only he got enough air in his lungs. His body arched off the cot, gave a final shudder, and lay still. His chest barely moved, but it did move. Raph looked at Donnie, begging for an explanation.

"He doesn't have much time. Help me get him to the elevator." Don's voice was soft, and frightened, and Raph knew that Don was right. Between the two of them, they lifted their elder brother and carried him out of the Battle Shell. Splinter and Mikey rode down with them, and went ahead to make sure Don's lab slash infirmary was ready. Don looked ready to drop dead by the time they'd made Leo as comfortable as possible on the medical cot. Raph could only stare at his injured brother. In the light, it was easier to see the horrible injuries, the scars, the mangled twist of each leg. The terrible, sandpaper rasp of his breath, which was weaker than before. He watched numbly as Don set up an IV drip, inserting the needle into a vein on the back of Leo's left hand, passed a nasal breathing tube into his lungs, hooking it to a canister of high concentration oxygen, and then began the long, hard job of patching up his injuries, one by one.

The seconds passed, feeling like hours. The minutes passed, feeling like days. Just as Raph was about to reach for his Shell Cell and call Vanessa, the skitter of claws on floor sounded in the hall. Don rose, expecting to see their sister walk in. Instead, he was greeted by a light 'woof' from the tall shepherd-wolf cross that his sister had named 'Sergeant'. He gingerly held a small bag in his mouth, which he set in Don's hands, panting. He looked up at Leo's unmoving form, and whined softly.

"You did good, Serge. This is going to help make him better." Don smiled at the dog, who gave a dip of his head, looking to the others. He curled up at Mikey's side, Mikey who was watching hopefully from a chair out of the way. The youngest stroked Sergeant's furry coat, a ghost of a smile playing across his face. Don took a vial of medicine from the bag, and quickly pulled a syringe out of one of his medical drawers. He filled the syringe, and injected the contents into Leo's IV.

"All we can do now is wait. Keep giving him treatments at regular intervals, try to get some fluids into him, and wait." Don`s voice was soft, almost hesitant, as if he didn`t want them to expect Leo to recover, "It's up to him now." Splinter walked forward, laying a furry hand on his second eldest's shoulder.

"You have done your best, Donatello. I am very proud of you." Don gave a small smile at that. The sound of the door to the elevator opening sent Don racing for the main living area. Raph and Mikey stifled their giggles, hearing him shouting, "You had me so worried! **_Again_**."

"Yeah, there's no attraction there at all." Raph snickered softly, his face sobering as he cast a sidelong glance at Leo. The Sergeant had moved so that he stood directly beside Leo's head, looking every inch a guard dog. The dog whined softly, nudging Leo's fingertips with his snout. Raph gently stroked the dog's ears. "He'll get better, Sgt. I promise." As the dog barked an affirmative, he winced inwardly, remembering one of Vanessa's 'random pieces of advice that aren't worth shit'.

"Never break a promise to an animal, Raph. They're like babies; they don't understand."

The Sergeant was smarter than the average dog, though, what with the wolf half of his DNA and all. But it would definitely make the Sergeant upset if Raph's promise turned out to be false.

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Eyup. So, you've met the Sergeant. R+R, please. Feed the hungry author.


	9. Chapter 9

Hmmm, well, hello my faithful and paitient readers. I feel like an asshat for not getting my s#%t together on this chapter sooner; please forgive meeee!

Anyways, a new chapter for you!

Today's disclaimer brought to you by the marvelous and ingenious Donatello!

Don- Do I really have to do this?

Me- Yes, now shut up and say the disclaimer.

Don- I can't do both.

Me- *glares*

Don- Moony doesn't own the tmnt, the hunger games, max ride, or eragon. or any other crossover stuff that trickles into her work. Happy?

Me- Intensely.

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Raph volunteered to stay with Leo that first night. He knew that Splinter and Don could comfort Mikey, and that Vanessa would be sleeping off the effects of today's spell-casting bout for the next day or so. He needed to be here, with his big brother. There were so many ways to describe them; bitter rivals being one of the foremost terms, and one of the truest. But best friends was Raph's personal favorite. His big brother, his best friend. He needed to be with him, to prove to himself that he was alive, and home. Barely alive, maybe broken beyond repair, but home. Safe. The monsters who'd done this to him dead, or at least in a state of mental or physical uselessness. He hadn't had time to check Ter Borsht's pulse, and the Shredder had survived being 'blown up' more than his fair share of times. If they were alive, would they try to take Leo back, to kidnap him and finish what they'd started? Raph knew they would try, but getting past **_him_** was a bit of a tall order, even for the Shredder at this point.

"Still awake?" A soft voice asked from the doorway. He looked up, seeing, of all people, Vanessa.

"Thought you'd be sleepin' off yer magic flu." He grumbled, using the name Mikey had come up with for the flu-like symptoms of magical exhaustion.

"Can't sleep. You?" She pulled a chair over, curling up like a dog might, with her head on one arm of the chair. Her thick black hair was damp and in total disarray. She picked at the hem of her nightgown, pale turquoise with penguins all over, and looked sadly at Leo.

"Same story. I-" He looked down, not believing that he was going to tell her, "I jus' don't wanna wake up an' find out this was all a dream, okay? If it's a dream, I don' wanna wake up."

"I get you. It's hard to believe we got him back." She laid a hand on top of Leo's, feeling his slowly strengthening pulse, his steadying breath. The medicine was helping. "You can't stay awake forever, you know."

"I can damn well try." Raph's stubborn snort was a welcome sound.

"How about I make you a bet, Raphie?" He looked at her, raising an eye-ridge, " If I manage to make you fall asleep, without using magic, you do my chores for a month. Deal?"

"How do I know you won't just cheat and use magic anyway?" He looked at her, suspiciously.

"Wolf's Honour. Swear on the First Pack. How about it?"

"Fine. Same stakes for you, Wolfie. Can't wait to see ya scrubbin' the toilet." They both chuckled softly, sobering as they looked at Leo. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Vanessa's soft soprano wove notes through the air,

"_Lay down your head, and I'll sing you a lullaby._

_ Back to the years, of Lou Li Lye Lay_

_ And I'll sing you to sleep, and I'll sing you tomorrow,_

_ Bless you with love for the road that you go."_

Raph looked at her, her eyes closed, almost looking like she was asleep already.

"_May you sail fair, to the far fields of fortune,_

_ With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet._

_ And may you need never to banish misfortune,_

_ May you find kindness in all that you meet."_

Raph felt his eyelids drooping, but fought to stay awake. Scrubbing toilets was on the line.

"_May there always be angels to watch over you,_

_ To guide you each step of the way_

_ To guard you, and keep you, safe from all harm,_

_ Lou Li Lou Li Lye Lay_."

When Raph looked over at him, Leo almost seemed to be smiling in his sleep.

"_May you bring love, and may you bring happiness,_

_ Beloved in return to the end of your days,_

_ Now, fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you,_

_ I'll just sit for a while and sing Lou Li Lye Lay. _

_May there always be angels to watch over you,_

_ To guide you each step of the way_

_ To guard you, and keep you, safe from all harm,_

_ Lou Li Lou Li Lye Lay_.

_Lou Li Lou Li Lye Lay_."

Even before the last note faded, the siblings were asleep.

When Donatello walked into the lab, after a few welcome hours of sleep, he was surprised to see Raph, Vanessa leaning on his shoulder, both of them fast asleep. He raised an eye-ridge, feeling a twinge of jealousy run through him, skirting the pair, and checked Leo's vital signs.

'Heart rate steady, breathing's good. Skin tone seems more natural, all things considered.'

'Hey, 'Tellio.' Vanessa thought sleepily, grinning at him. He smiled sheepishly, blushing.

'Did I wake you?' He asked, feeling guilty. She shook her head.

'Nah. I've been drifting in and out all night. Y'know, when things seem a little clearer to Leo's mind, and, well,' He nodded; he understood. Vanessa's mental connections to all of them made their pain hers, to an extent. She could feel it, even a little, no matter how hard she tried to block it out. Case in point, Don wasn't exactly envious of his little sister's powers at the moment. 'S'okay. Means he's getting better. That's what's important right now.'

'You can go, you know. Head out with Gwen or something. We got a phone call from your friends, saying they saw the explosion on the news. Adam nearly lost it; he thought you might've been in there when it happened.'

'I told him something was going down when I called Gwen to get me one of her 'passes' from school. He's pretty clever. For a human.' She shrugged, and Raph mumbled in his sleep, snuggling, if they dared use the term, against Vanessa's arm. 'I daren't move, lest Raphie Bear here wake up and go back into guardian statue phase.'

'Raphie Bear, eh?' Raph's mental voice chuckled as he lazily opened an eye.

'Uh, eeep?' Vanessa squeaked, pulling back and scrambling for her life. He waved a hand at her, shaking his head.

"Geeze, Fur-fer-Brains. I ain't gonna bite ya." He whispered, jerking a thumb at Leo, "Too noisy. I'll get ya back in practice, ya little twit."

"Oooh, I'm shaking." She whispered back, on the verge of a fit of giggles.

"You _should_ be."

"_Guys, _quit that. I'm trying to work, here." Don rolled his eyes at them, grinning a little, before looking back at Leo. Raph sighed, looking at his brother's form, unmoving except for the now steady rhythm of his breathing.

"Is he doin' better, Donnie?" Don nodded, as he gently bandaged a horrible scar that seemed to be the word 'ANIMAL' carved into the flesh of Leo's right shoulder. Cleaning the wound had been arduous, the task he'd begun with when he walked into the room, and now he moved to another that had begun to fester, this one on Leo's left thigh. The wound itself was neither deep or particularly dangerous, but the flesh had begun to rot, from lack of protection. Don shuddered, as Raph and Vanessa watched, and began to gut away the dead tissue with a scalpel. He then carefully sanitized the wound, stitched it shut, and moved on. By then, it was obvious that the two were not leaving.

"If you're in here, you're helping me. Got it?" He said it sternly, and they nodded. Raph began bandaging smaller cuts and burns, ones that didn't need more than disinfectant and covering. Vanessa helped Don to stitch, and kept close watch over Leo's mind. If he began to feel anything through the haze of sedatives and painkillers, she told Don, who administered more.

It was a long process, and by the time they'd finished the smaller wounds, a knock sounded on the lab door.

"You guys? As important as savin' Leo's life is, you need to come eat. Else Imma drag the three of you outta there. Mikey'll help me, too." Hearing Gwen's voice was a pleasant surprise for all of them, and Don opened the door to see her leaning, very casually, against the doorjamb. She smiled, and her forehead creased in worry when she saw Leo. "He gonna pull through, Doc Hamato?"

"Things are looking up, Gwenivire. He should be okay." He looked back at Leo, eyes worried, "One of us should stay with him. Just in case."

"I'll stay."All three of them piped up, but Gwen pushed Raph out of her way, and yanked Nessa back by her ear.

"I've got first aid training, I read medical encyclopaedias for fun, an' I'm gonna be a doctor in a few years. Besides, if anythin' goes wrong, you'll be the first to know, Don." She grinned broadly, and he sent her a grateful smile. She followed that with a graceful 'shoo' motion of her hand, sending them to the kitchen. It didn't come as much of a surprise that Adam and Johnny were there, John chatting amiably with Splinter, wearing his team hoodie from school. Adam was helping Mikey cook, and the smell wafting out of the kitchen was mouth watering.

"...I still think the Green Mantle is _way_ cooler than the Silver Sentry, green dude." Adam was shrugging, as Mikey let out an incredulous laugh.

"Au contraire, Gay One. SS over GM any day of the week!" Adam sighed, smiling and shaking his head as he dished out a plate of spaghetti.

"You're just saying that because Raphael got to be the Green Mantle instead of you."

"_No, _I'm _NOT_!"

"Oh, yes you are."

"Am NOT!"

"Ah, the sweet birds of springtime. I can hear their song." Vanessa stifled a giggle as she sat down. Adam turned towards her, his face serious.

"You scared the living chickens out of me, you know. I thought for sure-"

"Well, you were wrong. I'm not a crispy critter yet, by any account, Adam." Before he could retort, John interrupted.

"And thank whoever for that. Otherwise, I'd have no one to save me from Gwen's rants about the evils of ancient medicine."

"I heard that." Gwen's voice called from the lab, even as Mikey and Adam slid the spaghetti plates across the table to each spot.

"Lunch is served, gentlemen and lady." Adam chirped, smiling.

They sat to enjoy the first meal in weeks that passed with all their family members safe at home.

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Sooooo. How about them OC's? Read and review, please; I'm hungry for reviews!


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